For parents in Central Mass., Zimmerman case reverberates

The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida has left some black parents in Central Massachusetts struggling to answer tough questions from their children.

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old unarmed black teen who violently attacked Mr. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator who had approached him in a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood in February 2012.

A jury of five white women and one Hispanic woman found Mr. Zimmerman not guilty on July 13. For some, the encounter between the two men and the resulting verdict has become a racial divide. Mr. Zimmerman has been described as multi-racial. His father is white and his mother is Peruvian.

Some 1,200 miles away last week, as 29-year-old Erica M. Abel of Leominster and her 5-year-old son shopped in downtown Worcester, Ms. Abel admitted the two had a difficult talk.

Ms. Abel said she didn't know how to tell her son his appearance could have fatal consequences.

“Just because he's dressed a certain way, and looks a cer­tain way, someone might feel it's OK to take (his) life, and everyone else might agree with it,” she said in disgust.

But Ms. Abel said she doesn't want her son, who was the only black child in his class, to lose his naivety and become distrusting.

“I don't want him going to school thinking people are out to get him,” she said.

“I answer the questions as best as I can. I want him at least aware. I told him it's unfortunate. Somebody judged somebody else ... and the kid lost his life because of that. So you have to be careful.”

By the time he's 15, she added that “certain people” might associate her son's dreadlocks with “a certain type.”

Ms. Abel said: “I don't want him to lose who he is and conform just so society isn't afraid of him. But at the same time, the less you can provoke them with what you're wearing, the better it will be.”

After serving jury duty in Worcester this week, Stephen Morrison of Hopedale said his 8-year-old daughter asked why there were so many public demonstrations after the Florida court decision.

Mr. Morrison said his daughter has been looking up images of Trayvon.

Mr. Morrison admitted he didn't want to get “too deeply involved” in a conversation about the controversy, and explained it as simply an unfortunate death. But he admitted he found the circumstances “very, very, very upsetting,” particularly that Mr. Zimmerman allegedly disobeyed a dispatcher's advice not to leave his vehicle and pursue Trayvon.

He equated it to someone having “buyer's remorse” after starting a bar fight, and losing the fight.

As her 16-year-old son stood nearby in a store in downtown Worcester, Martha Agyekum was asked if her son's urban wardrobe might be cause for concern, in light of the circumstances of the case.

The boy gave an embarrassed smile as Ms. Agyekum responded, “I always tell him to dress nice. He doesn't have to wear a suit. But as a black person ... ” Her voice trailed.

Anthony Gardner, 32, of Worcester, said he advises young people not to be afraid of what happened.

Kids should be comfortable wearing what they want to wear, the farmers market coordinator said. But Mr. Gardner said he wants kids to always remember the Florida shooting death.

“That's the problem I have. When something happens we want to be all hyped up on it and then it goes away and we forget about it,” he said.

Mr. Gardner suggested he might not have been as quick to throw a punch as the Florida teen.

“I think he was defending himself ... He got mad at someone following him in the middle of the night. I would probably say, 'Hey, why are you following me?' That's where it escalated.”

Rosetta West of Worcester said she doesn't worry about her 22-year-old son because he is a productive member of society. She said he stays out of trouble and has a college scholarship and job.

Yet, Ms. West said her son has expressed frustration about the Florida case. He's often talked about how hard it is on the streets, and grapples with whether or not to wear hooded sweatshirts.

But Ms. West said she doesn't think twice about what her son wears.

“Why should he stop being who he is?” she said. “This thing is deeper than a hoodie.”

Ousmane Power-Greene, a history professor who teaches African-American studies at Clark University in Worcester, said the case has “global proportions” and added to an unfortunate part of U.S. history, which has seen black men lynched, killed or shot, sometimes even by police.

“So here we are in 2013,” said the professor, who has an 8-year-old son. “The mentality and attitude is that we have progressed in certain ways. But I think there's a mentality among black parents that their teenage kids are seen as Public Enemy No. 1.”

The history professor said contemporary topics such as the Zimmerman case were “rallying points” in a country that struggles to talk about race.

Growing up, black boys are often reminded by their parents not to lose track of how people might view them, the educator said.

“Many of us have stories of mistaken identities and being treated like one has committed a crime when they haven't,” he said. “That checkers the experience of black men growing up in this country.”

Contact Brian Lee at blee@ telegram. com

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